Will Telltale ever make a "nice" game again?

Two minutes into TWAU, and I'm getting an earful of potty-mouthed profanity from the Woodsman that would make Linda Blair blush.

As weird as this sounds, I'm starting to miss the days of BACK TO THE FUTURE, where I didn't have to worry about mind-numbing violence and f-bombs exploding in my face every time I turned a corner. Now, with Telltale prepping GAME OF THRONES (and working on the remainder of season 2 of THE WALKING DEAD in addition to TWAU), I can't help but wonder if Telltale has decided that "dark and nasty" is their company mantra now.

If you don't like foul language, you picked the wrong game. I don't think this is Telltale deciding to be "dark and nasty", they are picking more mature themes and franchises to work with. Some of us who play their games happen to be adults ;)

I don't think this is Telltale deciding to be "dark and nasty", they are picking more mature themes and franchises to work with.

Todd Mcfarlane's SPAWN featured plenty of violence and foul language too, but you won't meet many people these days who are willing to describe it as "mature".

Blood-spattering mayhem and punctuating every sentence with a "fuck" or a "shit" isn't mature, it's an adolescent child's perception of what maturity is supposed to be. Don't get me wrong, I get the gist of TWAU; it's Grimm's fairy tales for a grittier crowd. Preferably the kind who love movies like SEVEN. I can understand how some folks can get into that, but speaking personally, it doesn't strike me as being anything really original or exciting. That's why I think this game just isn't for me. There's just something innately silly about writers who think putting characters from children's stories into a "grown-up" film noir environment is breaking new ground. It's like watching a teenager trying to act tough by getting his hands on his Dad's gun and threatening the neighbour's dog.

I guess I've just had my fill of characters who are always trying to look and sound "badass". (Or, at the very least, stories that try to strive for a tone that's "badass.")

I can take gritty noir and I can take light-hearted whimsy without complaint, just so long as these things are done well. I don't care for either of them done badly. The quality of the content interests me, the number of times they say 'fuck' does not.

I believe I've seen Robert Morgan protest taking the Lord's name in vain elsewhere on the board. Nothing wrong with that, if its your belief system, but based upon it I suspect his social circles are a little more sensitive to dirty words, violence and sex than most.

I do have to agree here, though. While I'm not averse to darker material (hell, I've made quite a bit myself), it's almost surreal thinking that the same people who were making games out of Homestar Runner and Wallace and Gromit not too long ago have gone on to...this.

Although that's the least of my issues with Telltale's new direction right now.

Well, that's not that hard to imagine. Everybody (except Mr. Rogers - he is Jesus) has a swearing, boob-loving, floppy-weiner imagining side to them. Same goes for the TT devs. Really, after doing so many relatively safe games I think this is their way of finally letting loose. Although, they should be careful, because too much grimdark material becomes stale after a while and needs comedy to help balance it all out.

Seems to be the direction games in general are moving. I just realized that, of the many great games I got this year, nearly every one was rated M. The Last of Us, Bioshock: Infinite, TWD and TWAU, Saints Row IV... the only major non-M game was Rayman Legends. I don't care either way, personally, but it made me feel bad for the kids who are cursed with observant parents.

well, look at the content of the IP. Fables is a Noir story. those are never nice...friendly and warm. Walking dead, borderlands....game of thrones. Say what you will about what you "miss" ask tell tale if they miss the razor thin profits and the under whelming fanbase of just loyal fanboys? I think the companies grown what, 5 times in size now since walking dead?

SPOILER WARNING:

This isn't about friendly or unfriendly, noir or whimsy, mature or not mature. It's about weak writing hiding (like a sheep in wolf's clothing) among otherwise strong writing.

I have read the Fables comic since it began many years ago, and I will say that there is far more cursing in the game. The comics paint with swearing to enahnce the mood, set the tone, and even occasionally lighten the mood. In other words, they swear like most normal people. They don't, however, swear up a tirade in just about every single scene. I get it. Someone things a frog in sweatpants is funny. Funnier? British accent. Funnier? Lots of swearing. One problem: None of that is actually funny--it's absurd. The movie Ted is absurd and has many funny parts (in my opinion) but also many stupid parts.

Absurd does not equal funny. Swearing doesn't equal dramatic. Unfortunately, swearing in this instance is a ploy to try and convince you that the story is real and gritty and important but it ultimately undermines it. Swearing in the comic was handled artfully. This is just ham-handed and grimace-inducing. It lessens the impact of the narrative and cheapens the experience. Mature doesn't equal the number of swears per minute (spm); it equals difficult, gray areas, with dire consequences. That and paying a mortgage, but that's no fun.

Also, enough with the "red headed guy is the killer and TellTale can't believe we figured it out" self-congratulatory tripe. Comic readers already know who the red-headed guy is, and it would ruin the story is he were the killer

The argument against excessive swearing I can get behind, but the point of putting a frog with a British accent in sweatpants wasn't to be funny or absurd. It was "What would Mr. Toad from the Wind in the Willows look like as a building superintendent?" It's no sillier than "What would the Big Bad Wolf look like as a modern day sheriff?" or "What would Snow White look like as a town mayor?"

Also, not sure who you think the red-headed guy is from the comics, but he's only listed in the credits as "Cabbie" so unless the comic book character you're thinking of is also a cab driver, I would heed your own caution on self-congratulation. ;)

Cheapens the experience? It's a video game, not Shakespeare. They have a small window of opportunity to define a character for their audience; to make each one unique and memorable. I've heard worse language walking past a playground. They're just words and taking offense is a choice.

I 100% agree! I loved their more lighthearted and kiddy games. That's not to say I haven't enjoyed the M Rated games they have made (TWAU is my fave Telltale game) But I can't help but hope for a new game that maybe doesn't have vulgar language. I'm not really a fan, I can put up with it, but it gets old really fast. Like really fast.

I never heard of telltale before there walking Dead series and now wolf among us, Games they have made are marketing to the adult gamers which seem to be a good move with their games being more well known, I am not saying I didn't like there older for light games. They are really good, they never attracted my attention enough to play them before there other games peaked my interest.